PRESS RELEASE
National Association for Armenian Studies and Research
395 Concord Avenue
Belmont, MA 02478
Tel.: 617-489-1610
E-mail: [email protected]
Contact: Marc A. Mamigonian
ARMENIAN IMMIGRATION TO AMERICA TO BE EXAMINED IN LECTURE AT NAASR
Visiting scholar Dr. Knarik Avakian of the Institute of History,
National Academy of Sciences of Armenia, will speak on “Armenian
Immigration to the U.S.: Evidence From the Constantinople
Patriarchate” on Thursday evening, October 21, at 8:00 p.m., at the
Center and Headquarters of the National Association for Armenian
Studies and Research (NAASR), 395 Concord Ave., Belmont, Mass.
Avakian has conducted a thorough study of the origins and development
of the largest and most organized Armenian diasporan community, that
of the United States of America. The author of the Armenian-language
History of the Armenian Community of the United States of Amer-ica
(From the beginning to 1924), published in Yerevan in 2000, she is
also the author of over 50 articles on the Armenian Diaspora,
especially immigration to the United States. NAASR is host-ing
Dr. Avakian while she is in the Boston area conducting research at
NAASR and other Armenian centers in the region.
Importance of Constantinople Patriarchate
Under various historical circumstances, the Armenians were compelled
to leave their native lands and immigrate to the United States for
individual, educational, economic, political, cultural, religious, and
other purposes. These Armenian emigrants, who came primarily from the
Armenian-inhabited regions of Turkey and Western Armenia, maintained
their relations with the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople,
regarding it as their permanent spiritual, moral, and practical
bulwark. This fact is testified to by the extremely valuable and
interesting documents kept up to the present day at the Archives of
the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople (founded in 1461).
The Patriarchate holds files under the general title “America”
covering a long period be-ginning from the 1880s up to the present
day. With a view to presenting the diverse and sundry documents in a
historical and logical chain, it is possible to classify them under
the foll- owing headings: emigratory, Armenian-guarding and
orphan-supporting, ecclesiastical, per-sonal, public, and political.
Experienced Scholar from Yerevan
Dr. Avakian was educated at Yerevan State University, where she
received an M.A. in History, and completed a Ph.D. at the Institute of
History, National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia. She
has taught history at the university level in Armenia and currently
serves as Senior Researcher at the Institute of History, Senior Editor
at the Armenian Encyclo-pedia, and is Head of the Young Scientists’
Council at the Institute of History.
Admission to the event is free (donations appreciated). The NAASR
bookstore will open at 7:30 p.m. The NAASR Center and Headquarters is
located opposite the First Armenian Church and next to the U.S. Post
Office. Ample parking is available around the building and in
adjacent areas.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress